Intonal Festival 2019

Intonal Festival 2019
In the past five years, Intonal has quietly become one of the most interesting small festivals in Europe. Centred around Inkonst, a multi-purpose cultural space in the Swedish city of Malmö, the five-day event presents a sharply programmed lineup of DJ sets and experimental live performances. Like other European gatherings such as Unsound, CTM and Meakusma, Intonal reflects the ever-increasing crossover between contemporary club culture and the avant-garde. But it also has a particular mood all of its own.

Although it launched in 2015 with help from Unsound and CTM, Intonal is now an independent festival that, thanks to some degree of arts funding, can host ambitious bookings. As part of a core team from Inkonst and the neighbouring Inter Arts Center, Ulf Eriksson, who runs the label Kontra-Musik, feels like something of a public figurehead for Intonal. He was noticeably present and engaged at most of the performances I saw. Over the thump of the beats from the Red Light Radio room, he told me he sees the festival as a chance to invite people he likes, both artistically and personally, to gather and connect in a laid-back environment.

Eriksson cast his outlook as "a bit hippyish," but it's a valid sentiment. With a capacity of only 600, Intonal is intimate enough to make new connections and reinforce old ones, and the social aspect is spelt out in the event preamble. After their sets, I noticed most artists either hanging around chatting or checking out one of the other acts. Once Jimi Tenor finished his set, he was right back in the crowd at the Inkonst bar stage, filming the act that followed him on his phone: the incendiary Tanzanian duo MCZO & Duke.

MCZO & Duke were one of the big talking points of the weekend. MCZO held centre stage with nimble footwork and rallying vocal displays, while across the room Duke doggedly worked the track pad on his dusty laptop. Not only was this fast, snare-rattling performance fresh, but it also instinctively resonated with the crowd, who flailed rapturously in response.

The other act who loomed large in the festival narrative was the fearless Dutch selector DJ Marcelle. Her set in the Inkonst bar on Friday night was great, but her unique style lent itself even more to the illicit Saturday night afterparty. Performing in a complex of artist studios in a warehouse district, her three-deck set felt completely in tune with the loose setting as daylight broke through the windows. There were flashes of gabba, jungle, dubstep and more, patched together with exotic tones and rhythms.

Intonal draws its unique identity from an artful balance of different approaches to experimentation. At various points, I found myself ensconced in the most intimate kinds of performance, such as Kate NV's private, solemn ritual involving liquid in conical flasks, the rustle of plastic bags in a bathtub and deftly sequenced electronics. But then a short walk into another room often flipped the situation entirely on its head. From the incredible, accomplished rhythmic incantations of Burnt Friedman & Mohammad Reza Mortazavi, I popped upstairs to find domestic heroes Vanligt Folk delivering a raucous performance of punky minimal wave. While the vocalist flipped between wet and dry microphones and someone else manned the synths, the drummer stole the show. He leapt frantically behind his kit, flinging around floor toms and using his shoe instead of a drum stick. He even banged his head into a huge metal dish in time with the beat. It was ridiculous, and utterly magnificent.

Whether demure or delirious, there was rarely a time when the quality of the music dipped. That said, a couple of the heritage acts didn't sit so well. The UK dub legend Jah Shaka was an inspired booking, but his classic soundsystem style fell flat in Inkonst's sparsely filled main club room. Aux 88, who had complained earlier on Saturday evening about still hearing the same old classics at parties in Detroit, ironically only hit their stride when they themselves reverted to a medley of 808-powered electro funk classics.

There was so much incredible art packed into Intonal, from acousmatic installations and mellow jam bands to plenty more besides. But if one act best captured its spirit, it might have been the veteran German composer Limpe Fuchs, who performed on Thursday night at St. John's Church. Impulsively beating her custom instruments and playing a viola while kicking a wooden ball down the aisle, her performance was both fun and musically serious. It also had a sprightly, youthful inquisitiveness. Later in the weekend, she hosted workshops for kids to experiment with her instruments. This kind of energy summed up Intonal, a festival that offered a refreshing alternative to high-brow stuffiness by simply celebrating the wonders of experimental sound.